I feel like I missed a lot of drone records this year, especially after seeing other people’s lists. Like, there’s 4 records on A Closer Listen’s Top Ten Drone list that I haven’t heard yet. Oh well. Can’t listen to everything.

I’m especially happy with this list because not only does it have a lot of artists I’ve never heard of/written about before (15, 10, 4, 3) but also it has a lot of artists who I already love that are at the top of their game right now (14, 13, 7, 1). As usual, I tried to stay away from the high profile droners (yes, Lawrence English’s Cruel Optimism and Bibio’s Phantom Brickworks are phenomenal) and I do my best to let you know about my less-obvious favorites.

In case you missed em, you should check out my other lists: Metal and Not Drone Or Metal. There’s plenty of droney shit on the Not Drone Or Metal list, too, so you’ll definitely want to go there. The #1 on that list is an All Time Top 10er that I doubt will ever get unseated.

Here’s the Spotify playlist for those of you who like that sort of thing. It’s missing numbers 10, 8, 6, and 4, so stream those below.

As always: Thanks for reading. Thanks for listening. Thanks for making incredible music.

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A true winner right here. Templeton’s newest solo venture is the stuff dreams are made of, taking the murky majestic melancholy of Leyland Kirby and tying it in dynamic loops, reminding me a bit of Nicholas Szczepanik’sWe Make Life Sad but with loops that grow, a half-forgotten memory of a seaside jazz lounge playing swamp horns, drugged drums, and meandering pianos, all smeared into an intimate haze of organic harmonies, ancient gritty tape loops warped by your brain under the load of more recent experiences, found object clattering in the back room, an impossibly perfect balance of everything, retaining a beautiful clarity in the fog of drone, the analog warmth amidst the glitchy processing, the dark dank depression intertwined with bright bittersweet hope, nothing sounding more right at this moment. Only 300 copies pressed, available in March, preorder now and save yourself the heartache of missing out on this masterpiece.